China Scapegoat for Data Center Backlash, Experts Tell WIRED — SkimNews
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- X identified 200 accounts linked to China in late August that were helping spread anti-data-center talking points, fueling alarmist headlines like Axios's "China is secretly fueling America's data center rage," which data center-friendly politicians and right-wing figures amplified on the platform itself
- President Trump posted on Truth Social that "China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement" and declared "let Data Reign!" just days after X's report
- OpenAI banned accounts in June that it said were linked to the Chinese government and "testing narratives against AI infrastructure," but acknowledged in its own report the cluster was simply exploiting existing discontent
- GOP governors Greg Abbott (Texas) and Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania) have reversed their pro-data-center stances as midterms approach, with opposition surging from 42% to as high as 75% of Americans
- Graphika, a social media analytics firm tracking data center sentiment, told WIRED it has seen little evidence of significant foreign intervention and that most opposition is homegrown
- Right-wing attempts to blame China come as the Trump administration simultaneously complains that Chinese firms are stealing American AI advances—a contradiction that WIRED's China expert Louise Matsakis flagged
- Matsakis said the panic "is endlessly fascinating" as another instance of China becoming a scapegoat: "Americans often find it easier to put the blame on a nebulous other, rather than to actually look at themselves."
Why it matters: Data center backers gain a ready-made deflection from environmental, economic, and AI-related grievances, but if the China narrative loses credibility before November, Republican candidates who amplified it risk looking out of touch with the 75% of constituents who now oppose local data centers.
Ask SkimNews
